The Perils of Increased Riches

[Singing] We bless you, Lord. We bless you, Lord. You are holy. Holy Lord, and forever You are God. And forever You are God. Hallelujah. Hallelujah, and forever You are God. A wa yin o. A wa yin o, Oluwa wa. Oluwa wa, a f’ogo f’oruko Re. A f’ogo f’oruko Re. A wa yin o, Oluwa wa. Awa, Oluwa wa, a f’ogo f’oruko Re. A f’ogo f’oruko Re. Hallelujah. Hallelujah, a f’ogo f’oruko Re. A f’ogo f’oruko Re. We bless you, Lord. You are holy. Holy Lord, and forever You are God. And forever You are God. We bless you, Lord. You are holy. Holy Lord, and forever You are God. Forever You are God. Hallelujah. Hallelujah, and forever You are God. [Speaker 1] Almighty God, we are grateful unto You. We are indeed very, very grateful for Your bringing us again together for our discipleship class, the second edition in the year 2026. We are particularly grateful for Your mercies. Lord, we thank You for Your steadfast love. As we gather unto You this evening, Lord, we pray Your Spirit will work within us, among us, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Our Father, we are asking that by the working of the power of grace divine, Lord, You will meet with each and every one of us in those areas of our lives where we need You most, in the name of Jesus. Thank You, Eternal Father. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Last week, it was an opening charge or an opening word for the year 2026. And the opening charge and opening word was the need for us to live by inspiration. The need to remember that we must put on the new man. We must put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him who created him. Anything he knows, it is what he had been told. There is nothing he knows that he was not told. But the image of the man who is renewed after the knowledge of him who deceived him, that is after the devil, has the capacity to know. Has the capacity to know outside what the Lord had told him. That is why He said, "Who told you that you are naked? It's like you have put on another image. Have you eaten of so-so-and-so?" and the conversation continued. The same way we instructed ourselves that don't let us try to live independent of God like the devil. That is the error of Satan, and that is what Satan has imported to us. We are created to be dependent on God for whatever we needed to know. That was our charge, and the more we can live like that through 2026, the more we will enjoy abundant life. That was our opening charge. Before the opening charge, we had been looking at the matter of the wisdom of God. And we realized last Monday that what the Lord began to open us to when the year was closing in 2025 was actually that the Lord was starting 2026 with us. We didn't realize it until when we began to pray for direction in 2026 and the Lord said, "Look, all that I've been telling you as that year was rounding up are instructions for 2026." So we are still marching on on the matter we are discussing about the wisdom of God. Don't forget that we have not looked at the characteristics of the wisdom of man and the wisdom of God. We said there's a need to look at the characteristics of these two wisdoms. The Bible properly recorded the characteristics of these two wisdoms so that you can know when you are operating either of them. We have discussed the way upon which they ride. We are to move to the characteristics of the wisdom. However, today, we will not be moving to that. There is something the Lord wants us to quickly look at, particularly in connection with the opening charge for the year. There is a burden the Lord wants us to consider. It is something I trust the Lord that we should finish today. Actually, the way it came to me, it came like a verse in the scripture. It came like a verse in the scripture. If you look at the book of Psalms. Let's look at the book of Psalms, Psalm 66. It came to me more like a verse, and when it came in that sense, I was looking at it and I was trying to look at what the Lord wants us to see. Now when you look at Psalm 66 from verse 10: > For You, O God, have tested us; You have tried us as silver is tried. You brought us into the net; You laid a crushing burden on our back; and You let men ride over our head. We went through fire; we went through water; yet You brought us out to a place of abundance. You brought us to a place of abundance. The psalmist was saying that after everything that God made them to go through, something that ended the matter was that God brought them to the place of abundance. God brought them to the place of plenty. God brought them to the place where everything was sufficient for them. That's where God ended their matter in. Now look at something about when God brings us to the place of abundance. Look at what the psalmist now said in Psalm 62 verse 10. The conclusion of the matter here was that after everything, see, after God would have taken you through so many things to train you, to make you better, to establish you, the conclusion of the story is that God will bring you to a place of abundance. God will always bring His people to rest. Look at the Israelites. After all the Red Sea, the wilderness, everything, what was the final story? They entered into a promised land. Look at it for Jesus. After all the everything—the suffering, the death, the crucifixion—men did all kinds of things to Him. He died, the resurrection, what was the end? God gave Him a name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. What of Joseph? Where did the story end? After all the ups and down, what was he brought into? A place of abundance. So there's a way God brings us to the place of abundance. But look at something the Bible says about abundance. Psalm 62:10. Look at what the Bible says in the concluding phrase in that verse. Can we read it together? The concluding phrase: "If riches increase, set not your heart on them." If riches increase, set not your heart upon them. When you look at it in the old KJV, I think it is, "When riches increase." Let me check the old KJV. I want to see how it put it. Okay, it's also "if". "If riches increase, set not your heart upon them." So what is it telling you about the place of abundance that God will bring us to? Because the topic we are looking at today, that we want to quickly summarize, is the perils of increased riches. Perils of increased riches. When riches increase, there is a peril. What is the peril from Psalm 62:10? There is a tendency to lay your heart on it. And what I want us to do right now is we actually want to look at a case study. A case study. The matter kept coming to me over and over and over again, and I felt this is the way God wants us to go this evening. 2nd Chronicles chapters 14, 15, and 16. I just want to share this burden with us, and then we will pray. I don't know whether it will take the whole of our time today or we would have finished the matter before the close of our normal time today. Look at 2nd Chronicles chapter 14. The story is a story of King Asa. Asa became king after the death of his father, Abijah. I want us to take the reading. It's not a long reading. Chapter 14, please listen to what the Bible says. > So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David, and Asa his son reigned in his stead. In his days the land was quiet ten years. You know what that means? What does it mean that the land was quiet? There was peace. There was no war. In his days, please note what the Bible says. "In his days, the land was quiet ten years." Look at what Asa did, and look at how the Lord responded. "And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God." So do you notice something about Asa? What do you notice? But do you notice something further? He did what is good and right in the sight of the Lord his God. It's telling us that Asa had a personal walk with God. He did what was right. He was doing those things because he had a personal walk with God. So Asa had a personal walk with God. And Asa was doing what was right before the Lord his God. He was doing what was right. The reason why I point our attention to that is for you to know the type of king that Asa was. Asa was a king who had a one-on-one walk with God. Okay. > For he took away the altar of the strange gods and the high places and brake down the images and cut down the groves, and commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers and to do the law and the commandment. Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places, the images, and the kingdom was quiet before him. And he built fenced cities in Judah, for the land had rest and he had no war in those days because the Lord had given him rest. What am I trying to make you see? What is it that make Asa to prosper? God gave him rest. Because God gave him rest, he commanded the people, "Let us seek the Lord." And the Bible says, also he took out of the cities of Judah the high places and the images and the kingdom was quiet before him. And in verse 6, the Bible says he built fenced cities. What allowed Asa to be able to build was because there was rest. He was able to build, he was establishing because there was rest. Now the Bible says: > Therefore he said unto Judah, "Let us build these cities and make about them walls and towers, gates and bars, while the land is yet before us, because we have sought the Lord our God. We have sought Him and He hath given us rest on every side." So they built and prospered. And Asa had an army of men that bare target and spear out of Judah three hundred thousand, and out of Benjamin that bare shield and drew bow two hundred and fourscore thousand. All of these were mighty men of valor. And there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian with an host of a thousand thousand and three hundred chariots and came unto Mareshah. Then Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. And Asa cried unto the Lord his God and said, "Lord, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many or with them that have no power. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O Lord, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee." So the Lord smote the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. And Asa and the people that were with him pursued them unto Gerar, and the Ethiopians were overthrown, and they could not recover themselves, for they were destroyed before the Lord and before his host. And they carried away very much spoil. And they smote all the cities round about Gerar, for the fear of the Lord came upon them. And they spoiled all the cities, for there was exceeding much spoil in them. They smote also the tents of cattle and carried away sheep and camels in abundance and returned to Jerusalem. What am I trying to make you see? What was happened to Asa in chapter 14? What was happening? Number one, abundance. Number two, prosperity. Number three, increase. Number four, plenty. Number five, victory. All of these things together, what will it do for Asa? Asa will be getting bigger, stronger, wealthier. You get the point I'm making? So what was happening to Asa? Riches was increasing. Don't forget where we took it from. When riches increase, do not lay your heart on it. So Asa was increasing. He did not stop there. Go to chapter 15 before 16. Chapter 15, what happened from verse 1? > And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded, and he went out to meet Asa and said unto him, "Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you while ye be with him, and if ye seek him, he will be found of you, but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you. Now for a long season Israel hath been without a true God and without a teaching priest and without law. But when they in their trouble did turn unto the Lord God of Israel and sought him, he was found of them. And in those times there was no peace to him that went out nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries. And nation was destroyed of nation and city of city, for God did vex them with all adversity. Be ye strong therefore and let not your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded." Who was he telling this? He was telling Asa. When he gave Asa this kind of encouragement, what happened? Verse 8: > And when Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage and put away the abominable idols out of the land of Judah and Benjamin and out of the cities which he had taken from mount Ephraim and renewed the altar of the Lord that was before the porch of the Lord. And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin and the strangers with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh and out of Simeon, for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance when they saw that the Lord was with him. What was happening again to Asa? What was happening? There's increase in material things. What happened again with people? There was increase in population. Now increase in population, what will it lead to? A stronger nation, a stronger king, and more wealth. Am I correct? So what are you seeing about Asa? He was going forward and further and further and further. Is that not? Please look at something. He said, "So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem." Which year? Which month? Which year? Please look at it. In the third month of the fifteenth year. God gave rest for how many years? There was a first ten years. With that ten years, he built. There was additional how many years? Five years. With that five years, people, wealth did what? Increased. So what have God done for this man? God gave him rest. And you see, when you have rest on every side, nothing can stop you. There was nothing. Do you know what it means not to have any kind of trouble for 35 years? I mean, just imagine it. That it was just rest, increase, rest, increase, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty. If you even do increase for 10 years, will they recognize you again? There are people that you will not recognize again if they just have rest of 5 years. Asa had 35 years. No problem. Now look at what happened. I want us to now go to chapter 16. Let's see what happened in chapter 16. I read from verse 1. I want you to see something together there, very, very crucial for our understanding. 2nd Chronicles chapter 16:1. > In the six and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah and built Ramah to the intent that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. Then Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures of the house of the Lord and of the king's house and sent them to Ben-hadad king of Syria that dwelt in Damascus, saying, "There is a league between me and thee, as there was between my father and thy father. Behold, I have sent thee silver and gold. Go, break thy league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me." And Ben-hadad hearkened unto king Asa and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel, and they smote Ijon and Dan and Abel-maim and all the store cities of Naphtali. And it came to pass when Baasha heard it, that he left off building of Ramah and let his work cease. Then Asa the king took all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and the timber thereof wherewith Baasha was building, and he built therewith Geba and Mizpah. And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said unto him, "Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria and not relied on the Lord thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine hand. Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge host with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because thou didst rely on the Lord, He delivered them into thine hand." So please, what happened to Asa? What actually happened? He trusted in his riches. Are you following something? There was rest for 35 years. Asa was increasing and increasing and increasing. Mind you, in the 10th year, when he had not increased that much, a king came to fight him. He called on God, and God gave him victory. A king now came after he was 35 years in the Lord, walking with the Lord. You get the point I'm making? He was not 35 years old. I'm talking of the walk with God. In the 35th year of his reign, when a king came and attacked Asa, Asa did not first remember God again. He said, "Hello, did you say King Baasha is trying to attack us? I know what to do. I know what to do. He's a small boy. He's a small boy. What I will do is within me." And what did he do? He called the king of Syria. "Hello," one time he did not have handset, but this time, 24 handsets they are before him. He can just call the president of America one hand. He can call the president of Canada and say, "Reserve seat in hotel for me." One time he was not known. I hope you are getting me. So what did he do? He just pressed some button. Do you notice he didn't leave his country? He didn't send his army. On his seat, he has increased. "Am I on to King Ben-hadad?" "Oh yes, your royal majesty." "There is this stupid boy that is trying to invade my land. I want you to come and deal with him for me." "Ah, King Asa, at what price?" "You are talking about money. Money is not the problem. That's not the problem. Tell me how much do you want? Just tell me your take. All I want is with immediate effect. Repent at my cost and attack that useless boy. He doesn't understand who he's dealing with. I won't appear before him face to face. I've passed that level." He has passed the level of appearing in war face to face. The kind of level that David passed and he slept with Bathsheba. That was the level again that Asa passed. "At my level fighting with one stupid boy." He doesn't know what he did. He talks about the perils that is in increase. When riches increase, do not lay your heart on it. And you will notice when God came to him, what was the point of God with him? That so I am no more the strength of your life that there could be a challenge and all you could do is not to call me but to send money to somebody and tell the person to go and fight and you think the matter is solved. And you see, the reason why we are picking this lesson today is coming from what we discussed last week. It's coming strongly from what we discussed last week. The Lord is pointing His searchlight on our life that the areas where you will leave God and run ahead of God, they are not in the areas of your weakness. They are in the areas of your strength. Be careful. The areas where you are not likely to wait and be inspired. You know I was saying something in the month of December, say when some of us want to marry, the will of God becomes compulsory. "Baba, I cannot go except You help me." But when you are thinking of how to quickly make money, the will of God is not important because you feel you know the best job to take. Am I not correct? The Lord is saying, "Children, watch out. It is in the areas of your strength that you are likely to run ahead of God in the year 2026." Be careful in those areas that you think you know what you are doing. In those areas that you feel you already have the experience. Those are the areas to be more careful about as we journey in 2026. Those areas where we are afraid, we are likely to wait for God. But there are areas in your life that you think "Ah, this Nigeria now, you just do like this, boop, it just work." May we not run ahead of God. That was the error of King Asa. At the point where he still has just 3,000 soldiers, when he saw a host coming with one million, what did he do? "Lord, help me." He remembered God. But after another 20 years of building, don't forget how Asa was a fantastic brother. I tell people, the antidote against fall is not height, but caution. Don't think because you are very spiritual you cannot fall. Asa was a sound brother. Asa was a very, very sound brother. Look at how God was going with him, going with him. But you see, his breakthrough became his breakdown. May your breakthrough not become your breakdown. May the prosperity that the Lord advance into your life because of your obedience not become the peril for your life. As much as I will prosper you, don't trust in your prosperity. As much as I will make you strong, don't trust in your strength. As much as I will give you victories and success, don't trust in your achievement. Don't trust in them. Be on your guard. There may be rest and rest and increase and increase and increase. Don't grow to a point where you no more go to war face to face, I've passed that level. That was the level that David passed, and he found himself on the lap of Bathsheba. That was the level again that Asa passed. There was war. "At my level fighting with one stupid boy." He has passed the level of appearing in war face to face. So it's very important to understand that it is in those areas where we think we are strong that we need to be very, very watchful. Be careful in those areas where riches have increased or riches will increase. It says, "Do not lay your heart on it." That was the instruction that came and I felt we need to suspend we will continue with the wisdom of God trusting the Lord next week. Let us go ahead to pray. I want you to pray. "Lord, my breakthrough will not be my breakdown." My breakthrough, those areas where You are giving me increase and achievement and success. Those areas where it looks as if people are saying, "Hey, what we just see brother [unclear: Shehu] like this, everything is so." Please, I want us to talk to the Lord that "God, please help us." The instruction You are giving us for 2026 is that we should put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him who created him. That is we must be totally dependent on You. We should not know anything apart from what You are telling us. We should not know anything apart from what You are telling us. What You are inspiring us to do. What You are showing us. We should not go where You did not send. We should not follow where You did not lead. Lord, please help us. Lord, please help us. Help us to be very, very watchful, to be very, very careful. Help us to be on our guard. When riches increase, we must not trust in it. When riches increase, may our wisdom not become corrupt by the reason of our beauty. May we not corrupt our wisdom by the reason of our increase. Thank You, Eternal Father. Thank You, Almighty God. Let me invite our brother to close the meeting for us today. Please come and close the meeting. Our Father in Jesus' mighty name. Lord, we thank You so much for Your word that has come to us again this evening. Father, we pray that indeed our new man, we shall put on the new man that is renewed after the knowledge of Him that created him. Lord, we will not make the mistakes of our parents, Adam and Eve, that we will not trust in our own knowledge. Lord, we pray that as You are increasing us, Father we pray that You also help us to be more dependent on You. Lord, we pray that we will not become like Asa. We will not make the mistake of Asa. Lord, that no matter the height we get to, that we will become more watchful in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. As You are increasing us, oh Lord, we also pray that You also increase us in watchfulness. Help us to be as watchful as prosperous as You are making us. Help us to also be as watchful as so in Jesus' mighty name. Father, we say thank You for answering our prayers. Lord, we pray for the minister, we ask Lord Jesus Christ that You also continue to increase in him in Jesus' mighty name. That Lord, that these words also Lord will also be fulfilled in the mighty name of Jesus in his life in Jesus' name. Thank Lord for answering our prayers. For in Jesus' mighty name we pray. Amen. Let us share the grace. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us now and forever more. Amen. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives, and we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever and ever. Amen. [Speaker 2] This message is coming to you from Family Tent Ministry, a Christian ministry involved in reaching the lives of singles and married through preaching and teaching of God's word, discipleship, family life enrichment, social and community development and mission aid. Our regular activities are: discipleship class, every Monday 5:00 PM; adolescents and singles club, every first Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM; marriage forum, second Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM; family life seminars, regular school outreaches and every day counseling. For further counseling, you can reach us at our location, Life Camp by the first bridge, Ilere community, opposite Very Joy filling station along Ijera Road, Akure, Ondo state, Nigeria. You can also reach us through our social media handles: familytent@yahoo.co.uk, familytentministry01@gmail.com, www.familytentministry.org. Our phone numbers are 08033861136, 07033613848. God bless you all.